Todd Bowles Talks “Biggest Pet Peeve,” Addresses Baker Mayfield Accusation
November 10th, 2026
Plenty of blame to go around.
The sloppiness of the Bucs offense was off the charts on Sunday night. It’s a big reason Joe has called for the Bucs to move on from playcaller Zac Robinson.
It’s ok. He’ll find work and won’t lose any Team Galzer pay. Plus, those Sean McVay disciples always get head coach interviews are beloved.
On Sunday, the Bucs brought back an early-season nemesis: the mind-numbing presnap penalty.
And they’re under Todd Bowles’ skin, so he told WFLA-TV.
“My biggest pet peeve is the five false starts,” Bowles said. “You know, we’re starting 1st-and-15 and we’re getting five yard runs and we’re still at 2nd-and-10. We can’t do that. That’s almost half the drives of the game that you’re starting behind the 8-ball. And that’s hard to do against a good team.”
And those weren’t the only penalties on the Bucs offense.
After the 27-24 loss to Chicago, Baker Mayfield pointed a finger at the Bears defense for breaking a rule that prohibits messing with the quarterback’s cadence. Defensive players can’t bark out signals that simulate the QB.
Bowles waved that off as an excuse that doesn’t hold water.
“That’s football,” Bowles said. “I mean, there’s going to be a lot of barking on both sides of the ball. We gotta concentrate and get that done.”
November 10th, 2026 at 9:22 am
And its weird because i don’t remember this many false starts in 2024 with the same players. No excuse for it. This should be the easiest of a long list of problems on offense to fix
November 10th, 2026 at 9:23 am
I’m coming out of this season liking Bowles more than Baker. Didn’t see that coming
November 10th, 2026 at 9:25 am
Bowles probably doesn’t realize that he is perhaps the BIGGEST PET PEEVE of Buccaneer fans.
November 10th, 2026 at 9:32 am
Problem is Baker gets hurt and can’t make the plays but won’t come off the field. It hurts the team badly.
November 10th, 2026 at 9:33 am
Yeah, I mean, that’s WEAK AF standing up at the podium postgame (after a bad game) and complaining about the defense trying to trick you. I don’t believe I’ve ever heard a QB try making such an EXCUSE before, immediately following a game. I’ve heard coaches bltch about it before, but not very often. Todd is right… It’s FOOTBALL. You do what you have to do to WIN, as long as you can get away with it. It’s a veteran Offensive-Line, who has played together for a LONG TIME. There is ZERO EXCUSE. These are ‘professional’ athletes. It’s long past time that BAKER HIMSELF, takes a real good look into the mirror.
November 10th, 2026 at 9:35 am
Definately have to agree with Bowles . Watching the game false start after false start, 1 and 15 over and over. That is definately a coaching issue and lack of concentration by the players , which of course goes back to the coaching issue. It id definately hard to tell, but appears the Coaching , staff, QB, Receivers and O Line are all to blame, which again goes back to the Coaching Staff.
I don’t see any miracle coming with the time off. We are half way through the season. If you have not fixed it by now, the problem is to big. The Offensive cordinator has to go first, then whomever can’t play next.
November 10th, 2026 at 9:35 am
Blaming the opposing Defense. GTFO
November 10th, 2026 at 9:42 am
@ Doughboy – Baker is ALWAYS “hurt.” Lickt knew-it when he EXTENDED HIM. The problem being, players typically don’t heal and miraculously get healthier, bigger, stronger, faster, or more talented AFTER turning 30-YEARS OLD. And, Baker will be 32 and a HALF, year number ONE of his new deal. And, again… LICKT KNEW THAT going in, and STILL (desperately) decided to EXTEND HIM, even when there was ZERO REASON to do so. He was already secured and under contract, and we got NO DISCOUNT whatsoever. It’s a Bucs Life.
November 10th, 2026 at 9:44 am
Baker may have been defending his oline but he’s not the reason for the false starts. That ultimately comes back to Robinson and Bowles for their lack of concentration. Coaching and accountability!
November 10th, 2026 at 9:46 am
@Thomas Edrington
I agree 50% in what you said, that first place on your BIGGEST PET PEEVE ranking is shared between Bowles and Baker Mayfield,
The same QB the felt disrespected before agreeing on his new contract.
He hasn’t had a decent game for how many games.
Coaching has responsibilities same as the QB AND THE GM!!!!!!!!!
November 10th, 2026 at 9:46 am
Hey Joe – have you ever considered the possibility of our OC feeling limited due to the injuries and abilities of the $60M QB he has been strapped to by our “ROH” GM?
Have you attempted to look at this situation from Z-Robs POV?
What about Godwin as our #1 WR? – that is a bad joke at this point as well.
Do you folks realize Godwin is making $33.68M this season?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?
November 10th, 2026 at 9:46 am
Verstehe. Wenn ein OLiner falsch startet ist das die Schuld von Baker……
November 10th, 2026 at 9:59 am
Baker is so bad he makes Bowles sound logical.
November 10th, 2026 at 10:15 am
Weak minded QB. The defense got to his head. Because other than our passing offense the rest of the team was in the Bears’ head.
Both QBs went into full-blown panic mode. SMH
I think Jalon is more level headed than Baker. Jalon can be a game manager and take us to the playoffs.
Trade Baker now!!!!!!!
November 10th, 2026 at 10:17 am
Hi, I am Todd Bowles, let me bend over so you can kick me in the butt. Hey dumbarses it is not Baker false starting it is your beloved line that is. If that is football Todd, why are you not coaching our defense to bark out to simulate their QB cadence?
November 10th, 2026 at 10:18 am
Bowles has consistently fielded a team that lack discipline. We’ve heard this broken record a thousand times about executing better. Nothing changes because there’s no accountability on the team…..ever. That’s why I say when you’re players “love” their HC and you’re a mediocre team, it’s time to can the coach. Nobody ever gets pulled from the game, benched, called out, cussed out….there’s literally nothing that ever happens. This is year 5 of the same old mediocre team….no different than the previous gig with the Jets. It’s not going to magically develop….it starts with the HC and trickles down. You have a $55 million QB that is killing the team with turnovers. A well paid o-line that generates a flag nearly every game at the worst possible moments in the game….yet nothing changes. Bowles simply isn’t effective as a HC. Andy Reid goes 9-7 and he’s in a down year, Bowles does it and we act like it’s an achievement. The standard is trash and it started the exact moment Bowles took over.
November 10th, 2026 at 10:19 am
Blaming a coach for a players false stat my be one of the most ridiculous things I’ve heard. Our fan base and some of our media are loaded with idiots.
November 10th, 2026 at 10:19 am
Bench Baker, start Jalon Daniels for rest of the season…
***SIMPLE AS THAT***
(As Lovie would say)
November 10th, 2026 at 10:23 am
“That ultimately comes back to Robinson and Bowles for their lack of concentration. Coaching and accountability”
Man wtf are you talking about, there are literally names attached to those penalties to let you know which player is accountable for drawing their respective flag. Such a weird, anti-reality perspective
November 10th, 2026 at 10:32 am
False starts = lack of discipline, and that’s firmly on coaching.
November 10th, 2026 at 10:33 am
My biggest pet peeve is having a head coach that starts Anthony Nelson at OLB instead of David Walker. Oh also having an offensive coordinator that can’t design a proper passing offense. I guess that’s two.
November 10th, 2026 at 10:53 am
When you have excessive false starts, I’m sure coaches and Baker know- you start with the cadence caller, the QB. I hate to pile on Baker, but it is the QBs job to get them off on the snap. An unwritten rule of the game.
November 10th, 2026 at 10:59 am
I really like what Baker was doing, though, blaming the defense for calling the snap.
He’s smart as a whip, and knows we’ll be facing the Bears here in another couple of months. He’s already giving us an edge. This is chess we’re playing boys and girls! This ain’t checkers!! You want checkers, go watch some basketball.